Page 60 of The Dark Rising
“I would apologize for that loss of control, however, you are no barbarian, Darius. You know to take care of my things.” I’ll take care of things alright.
I just need more time. Get the crystal, find the names of all pack members who have gone missing or are lost. Then,thenI can drive a blade into this asshole.
I dust myself off, growling beneath my breath as I make my way back to my seat.
“Your father would be so disappointed with how you are acting.” I think I broke off some of my tooth. “As would your mother and little sister.” The ground beneath my feet trembles, and Charles smirks as he looks over some papers in front of him. “Now, now, you only have yourself to blame with the shame of that. Moving on.” I’ll move you six feet under. “I have planned for Maize to arrive at the keep. She is very easy to get her to spread her legs, so bedding her shouldn’t take too long. She is not a wolf, but she can take a tonic to bring on a mimicked heat cycle to get you, shall we say,in the mood.”
I stare. “No.” I will not touch her, the thought repulses me.
He stills, and lifts his head. “No?” he asks in a quiet murmur. I glare, letting him know I will not be doing this. “I wasn’t asking, but very well.”
There is a knock on the door, and I tense as Charles welcomes them in. “Seeing as though you will not do as you are told.” A guard walks to the side of Charles’s desk and bows his head, his neck shows as a sign of submission. “Have someone grab the large, red haired male and the one who uses a bow.” I tense. “And then bring Kaden down to the dungeon with them. We have another interrogation session to complete.”
My stare bores into Charles. “What did you just say?”
Twenty Three
Rhea
“Darius,justletmeout for a bit, I’m going mad being cooped up in here. You said I wasn’t a prisoner, yet it’s been nearly a week of seeing the same Gods damned walls,” I fume, folding my arms over my chest as he enters the room. “You come and go as you like. You were out most of yesterday!”
He just leaves when he wants, especially during the night. I’ve woken up to him gone, and I can’t help but wonder what he is doing. He never tells me.
“Go to the balcony for a little bit, that’s your fresh air,” he says, walking toward the bathroom.
“Ugh.” I throw my hands up and scowl at his back.
I turn toward the bed and hear the shower go on, just like clockwork. I bite my lip, refusing to look over my shoulder, knowing I’ll see him in all his stupid, naked ass glory. I made that mistake the last time I went to argue with him.
He didn’t have his back to me, no, not Darius. I had a full frontal view as I followed him, and I soon shut my mouth and scurried out of there with my cheeks on fire. His chuckle still rings in my ears. Now, he makes sure the door is a little open and he’s always facing this way.
I huff out a breath and turn toward his closet to change into one of his t-shirts. I have some clothes of my own that I brought with me from Belldame’s home, but they need to be washed. Darius took them from me the second day I was here and said he will sort it. I haven’t gotten them back since.
His black t-shirt comes down to my thighs when I change out of an old one, and I walk back into the bedroom, eyes going to the locked door with anger. It’s warded with his power, and that’s why I haven’t been able to open it.
I huff again and put my hands on my hips, looking around the room and wondering if I can knock the fucker out and somehow that will release the door. I hear the shower go off and I turn, ready to tear him a new one, but I quickly snap my mouth shut.
Rivers of water drip over his skin, they follow his tattoos from his neck, the tops of his shoulders, and then flowing down over the side of his ribs and abs. My eyes move on their own accord to the hair trail leading down, and below the towel wrapped around his waist. I swallow roughly, hating the desire that heats my flesh and I lick my lips, breathing deeply through my nose. A low growl has my eyes snapping up to his darkened ones, and I shiver at the heat in them.
We’re locked in a battle of desire and anger, but something that is unmistakably us. I take a peek at his forearm, at the barely visible design in the middle, and I subconsciously move my hand to my own, squeezing over my own marking. He tilts his head at me, looking at where my fingers grip my skin in an almost bruising grip before he runs his hands through his own hair.
This is so fucked. Everything is fucked.
“Darius,” I sigh, rubbing my eyes and trying to ignore the pull to him. It’s constant even when I’m near him, like a low buzz dancing beneath my skin that can flare up at any moment. Unpredictable, needy, wild. “It’s been too long, I haven’t seen anyone but you, and you’re driving me crazy.”
“You need rest,” is all he says, it’s what he has told me every damn day since I woke up in his bedroom.
“I’m well rested. So after sleeping tonight, you can let me out. I’m as good as new.” He gives me a blank stare and I try not to fidget under his scrutiny. I am feeling better, I’m still a little tired, but not completely exhausted. Why he feels the need to keep me locked in here and do nothing is beyond me. I hate the feeling of being trapped, but I won’t tell him that, though I think he knows it.
He looks me over, from my bare toes all the way back up to my eyes, lingering on any exposed skin he can see as he goes. He can see my frustration, my impatience as a smirk spread across his damn kissable lips. Gods, I need to get out of this room.
He’s the enemy, Rhea. Enemy.
“I’ll let you out tomorrow, on one condition.”
My eyes light up, wondering about his change of mind, but then I scowl. “What condition? There shouldn’t even be a condition.”
He runs a hand over his chest, wiping the beads of water that are left on his skin. “You get into bed tonight, and you’re not going to complain one bit about it when I join you.”
